Posts referring to the Panasonic Home PT-AR100U

We have a Panasonic PT-AR100U, and found it to be satisfactory. One minor quibble. Our machine "times out" around 2000 hours of lamp time, and leads one to presume that the bulb needs replacing. Only after realizing that the lamp timer could be reset without replacing the bulb, did we save ourselves a lot of expense and grief. After the second bulb died, we replaced it with the original, and off it ran for thousands of hours more.

My last bulb is dying off in my 8-year old Sanyo Z4. It's a 720p LCD projector I have ceiling mounted in my home theater room. I use it in equal parts for TV, movies, and gaming.
After looking around at what's out there now, I should mention I don't need 3D capabilities, would like a 12v trigger in and out, and definitely need 1080p. I don't want anything to do with a DLP setup.
Sadly, it seems that LED-lit LCD panels don't yet exist (but LED-lit DLP does? WTH?) so I'm not sure if it's better to wait, or consider the options lit by a traditional bulb...
I guess the Panasonic PT-AR100U fits my budget and needs, and I really would like something that fares better in ambient light than my Z4 does. (It washes out all the time. Partly because of the bulb, partly because of the lumens I'd wager)
I was considering the flagship Panasonic 8000, but I don't need nor can use 3D (it causes migranes for me), and the other things like motorized zoom and focus don't mean much to me. I am a bit picky on video quality, but is the difference in quality between those two projectors worth hundreds of dollars?
I'm also reading that at one time the AR100U was significantly cheaper than it's current $1299 street price. Should I expect to see this on discount during the holidays? I really would prefer to be paying $1000 or less, if possible.
Is it safe to assume that almost anything out there is going to be better in picture quality than my 8-year old Sanyo?
Thanks in advance, I've been out of the loop for so long I feel some advice here would help a lot.

Hello everyone..Merry Christmas
Im looking to purchase the Panasonic AR100U because of its brightness but most importantly its Lens shift capability. This is my issue. .My room has 10 foot ceilings and i want to mount the projector close to the ceiling without a drop tube and use the lens shift. I would also like to install my screen 2 feet below the ceiling at around 8 feet so my viewing angle isnt so steep. Can anyone tell me if this is at all possible with this projector?? can i mount the projector on the ceiling with a 5-6" drop and get the image down to my desired location??
Please anyone with any information/input would be greatly appreciated.